Leonardo Di Caprio The Wolf of Wall Street
Yes, you heard correctly, almost 90% of traders won't make any money on currency speculation. That's according to a recent study carried out by French Financial Markets Authority AMF and published on the LeMonde.fr newspaper website (see here). In line with this survey, between 2009 and 2012, and on a scale of 15,000 people, each trader would have lost around €10,900.
In addition, the AMF press release states:
« (...) the more active traders were, i.e. the more transactions they made or the larger their investments were, the larger the losses they made » .
How can these figures be explained?
Unauthorised trading websites:
Highlighted in frequent press releases by the AMF, notably through its blacklist, the unauthorised online brokers operating in France and Europe are often singled out.
To make things simple, investing your money in an unregulated broker is no better than giving your money to a crook. Despite the deceptive appearance of their websites, and even their convincing client contact, don't let yourself be pulled in; according to LeMonder.Fr: « the internet is teeming with websites that pass themselves off as authorised professionals and attract regular clients through aggressive advertising. »
Reminder from the AMF:
« Before making a commitment, you must verify that the intermediary offering or advising you on your investments is on the list of financial institutions authorised to operate in your country. »
Please note that all the brokers featured in our comparison are regulated or authorised by the FCA.
The lack of experience from new traders:
The currency market is complex and its variations are difficult to anticipate. Because of this, you cannot dive into speculative trading head-first with no previous training.
Don't let yourself be tempted by greed: Yes it's possible to earn a living by trading, but that can take time and requires a certain degree of knowledge.
The good news is that a lot of brokers offer free seminars and webinars for their clients, and are highly recommended for online trading novices.
On a final note, before getting started, make use of the demo account using virtual money in order to take your first steps into online trading.
